Recent reading: Hume and Banks

[acw]

I am still making slow but steady progress through Hume's late-18th-century History of England; now I am in volume 5, just after the death of James I (and VI), and reading a digression about What England Was Like during his reign. This is OK in small doses; it's what modern historians have given themselves over completely to, at the expense of the

Comments

[gk7]

Consider Phlebas is bad enough to put you off the whole rest of the Culture series, and it almost should: Nearly every book has some amusing bits, but in the end they leave me with the annoyed feeling that I've just read a lot of prose that wasn't worth the time it took to read. The one culture book that I did like was The Player of Games, so if I haven't recommended that, yet (sorry, I've lost track), skip to that one and then decide whether you want to take on any of the rest.

Whit from Banks's non-science-fiction oeuvre was excellent.

[gk7]

P.S. I am reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I had previously not gotten around to it.

I think all those Anthony Trollope novels that I've liked have softened me up a bit for Ms. Austen. And for this I am grateful.